From What I've Tasted of Desire
by keepitunderyourhat
Summary: There was a prompt on Tumblr about Elsa not really having any interest in marriage until she meets a fiery- literally- Muslim princess. Also a Tangled crossover, I suppose. Original idea credit goes to adventuresofcesium. tumblr. com
1. Some Say the World Will End in Fire

Anna bounded around the ship, learning, seeing, and doing as much as she possibly could. She had never been on a boat before. She had never travelled anywhere, really.

When she heard that she and Elsa had been asked to visit Corona, she was ecstatic. She was so preoccupied with the thought of being somewhere other than Arendelle that she completely forgot about the fears that most of the castle staff expected her to have.

She begged the sailors to teach her everything they could- knots, terminology, how to rig the sails- Anna was a person who needed to be occupied at all times.

She was singing and dancing merrily, entertaining the crew, and Elsa could hear her from below the decks (where she had been mainly residing during their journey- they were going through a bit of a heat wave, and Elsa was not built for warm weather). After the last chorus of her little chanty ended, she sighed, and ran up to the side of the boat. Resting her elbow on the rail, she gazed at the waves, shimmering more shades of blue than she could have imagined possible. As she looked at the water, a realization started forming in the pit of her stomach. She stood up straight, eyes wide. _How had she not remembered this? A ship to Corona..._

Bolting down the stairs, she ran into Elsa's cabin without even knocking.

"Anna?" a sleepy queen mumbled, as she woke up from a nap.

It was nice and cool and dark in her cabin, just right for her. She blinked at the sudden sunlight.

"Oh! I'm sorry to wake you," apologized Anna. "I just..." she didn't know exactly what to say. Fighting back tears, she sat down next to her sister. "I just... I just remembered..."

"Anna! Tell me what's wrong!" said Elsa, scooting closer. She crossed her ankles and folded her hands in her lap. Even just after waking up, she was as regal as ever.

"We're going t-to Corona, a-and Mama and Papa..." a hot tear escaped, trickling down her freckled cheek. "Th-they were going to Corona, r-right?"

"Oh, _Anna_," said Elsa, putting her arms around her younger sister. She was cautious at first, but she knew that Anna appreciated touch. "Shh, shh, it's alright. I think- I- yes, I think they were going to Corona. Something to do with the return of the princess. Or a wedding, I think. But we'll be safe, we'll be fine," she cooed.

Anna sniffled. "I know, and I mean, I'm not _scared_, not really, I know the crew knows what they're doing..."

Elsa nodded into Anna's shoulder. "Mm-hm. I understand."

They stayed like that for a while. "Can I stay here?" asked Anna. "If you want to go back to sleep, that's okay. I won't talk. I just... wanna be here."

"Of course." Elsa lay back down on her small bed, and Anna curled up next to her. She didn't know exactly when she had drifted off, but something about the gentle rocking of the ship combined with the soft aroma of Elsa's perfume- it was the kind that their mother had used- had erased all of her worries.

They awoke to loud knocking- "Your majesty? Are you alright? It-it's nearly six-o'clock, and..."

Elsa sat up quickly, accidentally shoving poor Anna off the bed. She hit the wooden floor with an annoyed "_Hey!"_

"_Sorry!" _Elsa whispered, giggling. Anna stuck her tongue out at her elder sister.

"Your majesty?" The voice refused to go away.

"Yes, I- yes, I am quite alright." She admonished herself. She had been in her cabin for nearly twenty-four hours. She needed to get up, walk around, enjoy the views, be social. But it was just so _hot_ outside.

Anna stood up, looking in the small mirror that adorned Elsa's wall. She attempted in vain to fix her sleep-mussed braids without actually re-plaiting them.

Elsa rolled her eyes. "C'mere." Anna plopped back down next to her, sighing.

As the queen carefully unbraided her hair, the princess began to wonder. Back in Arendelle, Kristoff was waiting for her. No one was really waiting for Elsa- no one personal, anyway. The advisors and the kingdom didn't count.

"...Elsa?" she asked timidly.

"Yes?"

"Are you ever..." she didn't quite know how to phrase it. "...lonely? I mean, I know you aren't _alone_, not anymore, but, I don't know... there's sort of a- a difference."

"Why would I be lonely? I have you, I have Gerda, the kingdom, and I can always hold a nice conversation about ice with Kristoff," the queen said, smiling.

"No, yeah, I know, but I meant more like..." Anna paused. "Do you ever think about marriage?"

To say that she hadn't would be a lie. Of course she had thought about it; she was a queen in need of a king. Well, _she _didn't think she needed a king, but the royal advisors had other opinions. To say the truth, however, she had never truly longed for a romantic companion. It was the kind of thing that she hoped would maybe come along one day, but didn't intend to set out looking for.

"I... I suppose. Yes. But- I don't- I don't really want it. Or- I don't know, it would be _nice_, but-" she gestured for Anna to hand her a ribbon to tie off a braid- "But it's not really a priority."

Anna handed over the silk ribbon. "Oh. Okay."

Anna was the first person off the ship. She ran down the dock, finally free to skip again. She felt the new, balmy air blow past her skin as her dusty-blue skirt swished around her legs. There were new birds and new people and new trees and there was sun, oh, so much sun, even at this hour, and _light _and _warmth _and-

"Whoops!" She slowed after she nearly stepped on a small sleeping dog, whom she promptly apologized to.

Elsa couldn't help but smile at her sister. With perfect posture, she carefully stepped off the ship. An attendant handed her a parasol, adorned with lace, which she gratefully accepted. Anna ran back and clutched her sister's arm.

"C'mon c'mon _c'mon_, Elsa! They're waiting!"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "More like the _carriage _is waiting."

"But I wanna walk there! I want to see everything!" Anna whined.

"The castle is quite far from here, your highness," said their footman. Their attendants excelled in crushing dreams.

Anna climbed into the carriage rather ungracefully, hoping not to trip on her dress.

As the carriage rolled through the sunny streets of Corona, Elsa leaned against the window. She thought about what Anna had said earlier, about marriage. Did she _want_ to get married? She didn't know. She would probably have to, eventually, for the economic benefits, but...

When Elsa was in the confines of her room growing up, she had had plenty of time to read. She read through most of the castle library, in fact. Romance novels had never been her favorite. They were the hardest to relate to, in her opinion. And usually they were rather silly or melodramatic. She mostly had favored books about geography; she liked to imagine all the places she would go after she had a handle on her powers. She sighed.

Anna was practically bouncing in her seat.

"Anna, please try to... contain yourself... when we meet the royal family. For all of our sakes," said an exasperated and exhausted Elsa.

"I'm sorry, it's just... eeeeeeEEEEEE!" Anna clasped her hands together and scrunched her nose in excitement.

As the carriage slowed to a stop, Elsa took a shaky breath. Being around so many new people was still a bit hard for her. She put on her gloves- she was trying to break the habit, but she always kept a spare pair with her for emergencies. _You'll be fine, Elsa, _she told herself.

The footman opened the door, and Anna very nearly fell out.

_"First impressions, Anna!" _said Elsa, laughing.

The princess of Corona was waiting for them, with a prince by her side. She had round, green eyes, and hair that looked like it had been hacked off with a knife. Her young face erupted into a smile when she saw them. She seemed to positively radiate with sunlight.

The Norwegian royals sank into deep curtseys in greeting, which the German royals promptly returned.

"I'm Anna! Ah- Princess. Princess Anna. Yeah." She was stammering with sudden nervousness.

The Coronian laughed. "I'm Rapunzel. It's nice to meet you! Oh, and this is Eugene." He bowed his head.

"You must be Queen Elsa," he said. "We've heard a lot about you."

"Have you?"

"Oh, yeah. You've probably heard, but Blondie here-"

"_Eugene."_

"What?"

Rapunzel looked like she was about to say something, but then decided against it.

"_She's not blonde," _ Anna whispered in confusion to no one in particular.

"Ah- yeah. Old habits die hard. Anyway, I meant to say, you've probably heard that we've got our fair share of magic over here, too," said the prince consort.

Eugene and Rapunzel told their story as they led Anna and Elsa through the halls. Anna and Rapunzel were becoming fast friends; they agreed on almost everything, and they both had equally bubbly personalities. They turned a corner into a small parlor, where they were to wait for the king and queen- they were ashamed of not being present to meet their guests, but an important meeting had ran late. Smoothing out her skirts, Elsa sat down in a pale purple armchair. She gazed out the window, which overlooked the charming city of Corona.

_This is just the first_, she thought. _Just the first of the hundreds of places I'll go._

More curtsying ensued as the King and Queen entered the room. After a bit of awkward small talk and several "it's-a-pleasure-to-meet-yous" they were led to the bedrooms where they would stay for the duration of the visit.

Elsa's room had pale yellow wallpaper, with patterns of small golden suns running up and down. A pair of glass doors with lavender lace curtains opened up to reveal a small white balcony. _If you could put it in a box_, thought the queen, _sunlight itself would probably be their main export. _She stepped outside, and a wash of heat came over her. It was humid today; Elsa felt like she was inhaling steam. It quickly became uncomfortable, so she shut the doors and closed the curtains.

There was a knock on the door.

"You may come in," called Elsa. A servant opened the door and carried in her belongings. "Ah, thank you..." She didn't know his name. The worker simply nodded and quietly walked out. She opened up the smallest bag, the one with her cosmetics and combs. She had shoved a book in it just before they left Arendelle. Lying down on the soft, cool, sheets of her bed, she opened it up and started to read. It was a very new book- it had been published mere months ago. Powder makeup had gotten all over the cover, but Elsa was pretty sure the title had something to do with a trio of French soldiers. She quickly became absorbed in the story. She had been to France as a young child, and she tried to recall what it looked like. Minutes turned into hours; she only stopped because she realized it had become harder to see. The sun was finally setting. Another knock on the door fully pulled her out of her reading trance:

"Your majesty?" a voice called. "The royal family of Agrabah has arrived. They're waiting in the front hall."

Family of Agrabah? Elsa tried to remember the details of the letter. Ah, yes, they had mentioned that the Arabian royals would be joining them. Quickly looking in the mirror to adjust a hairpin or two, she followed the servant to the front hall- where stood the most beautiful woman that Elsa had ever seen.


	2. Some Say in Ice

_ It's the way she holds herself,_ decided Elsa. _The way she stands, walks, moves. _The young woman seemed to be trying to shrink into herself, as if she could just fold up and disappear. Not out of embarrassment, but out of... something else. Elsa couldn't quite describe it, but she recognized it. She recognized it in herself.

The foreign king coughed.

"Oh!" said Elsa, softly, coming out of her daze. "Queen Elsa, of- of Arendelle."

The king nodded, with a look of scrutiny on his face. "It is strange," he said, "To see one so young have such a title."

Elsa chose not to respond, as most of the rebuttals she could think of would be rather rude.

Anna and Rapunzel came running into the hall, stumbling and giggling. They appeared to be missing shoes.

"Whoops!" said Anna. "Um- hi." Elsa nudged her arm. "Oh, right, sorry." She gave a rushed curtsey. "Princess Anna, of Arendelle."

The young Arabian woman gave a small smile, and Elsa tried not to stare. Rolling his eyes at the flushed-face princess, the king brought his daughter forward.

"This is my daughter, Ameerah Noor." The girl came forwards, nervously adjusting the beaded scarf that covered her hair.

"It is most wonderful to meet you," Noor said softly. Her syllables sounded choppy; English was obviously not her mother tongue.

A servant spoke up, offering to show the royals to their rooms. As they walked away, Elsa realized she had been biting her bottom lip. Releasing it, she shook her head and pulled down the sleeves of her dress.

_Woah. _

_..._

"Would you like to join us, Queen Elsa?" the Coronian princess chirped.

Elsa blinked, being brought out of her daydream. "Hm?"

"Eugene and I were thinking of taking Princess Anna and Ameerah Noor on a small tour of the city. Would you like to come?" The queen found it hard to say 'no' to her pleading green eyes.

They set off on foot, as insisted by Rapunzel and Anna. It was quite obvious that the two girls had much more energy than the rest of them. After a while, Elsa began to grow tired. They were walking through a lovely park, and she spotted a bench under a shady tree.

"Ah- Rapunzel," she said, "If you don't mind, I- I think I just need to rest for a few minutes. You can go on, I'll catch up eventually."

"Oh, okay!" the princess called. "Oh, Anna, just wait until we get to this _amazing _bakery..."

"If you don't mind... I'd like to join you," Noor said softly, sitting down next to Elsa.

"I- oh, of course, of course," Elsa stammered. She hit herself mentally. _What was wrong with her? _

They both sat there awkwardly, glancing at each other and then quickly looking away.

"Your- your majesty, I-"

"Oh, please call me Elsa."

"Well, Miss Elsa, I- I was wondering if I could ask you about your... your, oh, what is the word... magic." Noor was blushing furiously, ashamed to be asking such a personal question to someone she knew so little about.

"Oh! Absolutely!" Elsa didn't know where her sudden enthusiasm had come from. "Well, Ameerah," began the queen, thinking that the title was actually the princess's name. Noor grinned, before quickly covering her mouth with her hand.

"Your m- Elsa, 'Ameerah' is not my name. It means... oh, how... princess. Yes, that is the word."

Elsa's eyes widened with embarrassment, before smiling apologetically.

"Well than, _Noor_..." she proceeded to tell her the story of her her magic: the discoveries, the errors, the eventual acceptance. Every so often she would catch the princess's eyes dropping to her lips, or to her hair, and once she even found herself staring into the other girl's eyes. All too soon, however, Rapunzel, Eugene, and Anna returned.

"Hi, Elsa! Oh, we went to the most _amazing _cupcake place," Anna buzzed, running over to her sister.

"A cup... cake? You mean a krumcake?" said Elsa, in confusion. They didn't have cupcakes in Arendelle.

"No no, they're these adorable little tiny cakes with swirly frosting on top! I cannot _believe _I have spent nearly nineteen years without them..."

They set off back to the castle, all of them in a better mood.

...

When they arrived at the castle, they were greeted by an almost comically dressed-up man, complete with a curled mustache.

"Hello, fair ladies," he said, with a small bow.

"Oh, guys, this is my uncle. The Duke of Stuttgart. Good afternoon!" said Rapunzel. The gentlewomen swept into curtseys.

"Now, I thought I might introduce you to the architecture of our fine palace. After all, it was designed by some of the greatest..." he continued his message with an air of reverance.

"He gets like this sometimes," whispered Rapunzel. "It's best to just smile and nod."

Suddenly Elsa found herself being led to every wall, window, and nook on the exterior of the castle. There was not much shade outside, so Elsa patiently waited for the tour to be over, suffering in silence. But after a while, it started to get awful.

The sleeves of her gown felt heavier than gold. Her head started to pound, and her legs felt like iron. _You're a queen_, she reminded herself. _You can handle this._

But Elsa becoming more frightened by the minute. She could almost feel her body temperature rising. She tried to use her magic to cool herself down, but it was no use. Apparently they had temporarily melted, just like her state of mind. That's what it felt like, at least. She shut her eyes for a long second, trying to calm herself down. _You'll be fine, Elsa. This can't last forever. You'll be inside soon enough._ But as the duke continued to drone on and on, (about what, exactly, Elsa was not quite sure. She had given up listening long ago), a feeling of nausea started to grow in the pit of her stomach. Her bangs were damp with perspiration, a sensation she had never experienced before- and did not enjoy one bit. Feebly reaching out for Anna's arm, her vision started to go dark around the edges. Fuzzy spots grew in front of her eyes as she heard,

"Oh, my God, Elsa! Are you okay? Oh, Elsa, you're so _warm_!" Anna was shocked at her sister's touch; it was usually so cold. She looked at her sister's skin, which was even paler than usual.

A chorus of "Oh, your highness!"s and "My lady!"s then ensued, as Rapunzel's ladies-in-

waiting swarmed around the young queen, armed with dainty fans. Elsa weakly brushed them aside with a wave of her hand. Straightening her spine, she took a shuddering breath.

"I-I'm fine," she assured. Her world was spinning now, and her knees were beginning to buckle.

Noor looked on with worry. "Your highness, are you quite su-" she did not get to complete her sentence, for with a faint gasp, Elsa collapsed. Someone behind them shrieked. Instinctively, Noor flung out her arms and caught the young queen.


	3. From What I've Tasted of Desire

**[Sorry for the lateness! Been super busy.]**

"ELSA!" Her sister nearly screamed. More castle workers had come outside, in response to the sudden commotion.

"Oh, oh no, oh _no,_" said Rapunzel, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Well, this is certainly a predicament. Now, as I was saying-" the duke attemped to continue as if nothing had happened, but Eugene, bless him, cut him off with a glare.

"Ah- here, lemme..." he offered to take Elsa from Noor; her arms were beginning to shake. She nodded in thanks as he scooped up the fragile queen.

"Where should we- um, is there, like, an infirmary, or, um, oh my gosh, um..." Anna was simply sputtering out words. Elsa was supposed to be the poised, regal, _strong _leader, not the frail girl Anna saw now, limp in Eugene's arms.

"Yeah, I- I'll show you the way," said Rapunzel. She turned to face the duke. "Um... Uncle, I'm sorry, but we sort of have to cut this tour short." They left before they could see his enraged expression.

Elsa's first thought was of the feeling of unfamiliar sheets. After sleeping in the same bed for almost twenty-two years, it was a weird shock.

Her second thought was the annoyance she felt towards the water that was trickling down her face to the back of her neck. She opened her eyes slowly.

"Ooh, yer majesty! Yer awake!" A smiling, heavily accented nursemaid was pressing a wet cloth to Elsa's forehead to cool it down.

"Wha-"

"Jus' rest, lovey." She removed the cloth and put it in a small bowl. "Here, drink this." She offered Elsa a cup of water.

"Oh, thank you," said Elsa. Her voice cracked and she accepted the water gratefully.

"Heatstroke, lovey. It gets all of us eventually."

Elsa cleared her throat, determined to hold her dignity. "W-what time it it?"

"Nearly seven, dear. E'ryone's down at dinner."

The young queen tried to get up, but she was gently pushed back into her pillows.

"No no no, yer majesty. Don't need ye gettin' any more damaged." The nursemaid clucked her tongue at her.

Normally, Elsa would've scolded someone for patronizing her. But just for this moment, she wanted to be treated like a child. It was kind of nice, actually.

"You should rest, dear. I'll ask some'n to bring yer food up."

Elsa gave a weak nod, too tired to do anything else.

The nurse patted her cheek, and left the room.

As Elsa's thoughts began to clear, she almost became angry at herself. This was forever going to be her image: the fragile, childlike queen who fainted because it got too hot. She reached up to move her hair away from the back of her neck; it always made her so uncomfortable. She realized that the nurse must've taken it out of it's braid. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over her- sitting in her mother's lap by the fireplace, listening to her father's stories until she fell asleep. Being half-conscious as her mother brought her up to her bed, nestled in her arms. Waking up in her bed, somehow in her favorite nightgown and with her hair spilling over her shoulders.

It took all she had not to cry. Then she realized that she was alone. So she cried.

When she woke up, the only light in the room was cast by the full moon that shone through the open window. Outlines of the furniture were washed in a shimmery white glow. Elsa rolled over, pulling her blankets over her head. Deciding that there was no way she was going to be taken care of by that annoying-but-well-meaning nurse again, she carefully sat up. There was no throbbing headache anymore, so she took that as a sign she could stand. Placing her bare feet on the cold, tiled floor, she pressed her hands on her knees, regaining herself.

Elsa creaked open the door as quietly as she could. She padded down the corridors, pretty sure she knew the way to her room. Suddenly, she quickly turned a corner-

"Oh, my!" a voice gasped. It was so dark, Elsa had smashed head-on with someone- she put a hand over her mouth to keep from shrieking.

"Oh my goodness, my sincerest apologies-" the queen started to whisper.

"No, no, it is alright. I am not hurt." the voice's tone implied otherwise.

"It was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going." Elsa smoothed out her nightgown and reached out for Noor- she couldn't see her face, but her heavily accented words were pretty revealing. Taking her wrist, she pulled her out of the shadows. But as her lean fingertips touched Noor's dark skin, she drew back in shock. A strange feeling had surged through her fingertips. Gingerly reaching out again, she experimentally placed her hand on Noor's.

"_Ah!" _Elsa sprung her hand off the other girl's and clutched it to her chest.

"Oh- oh my- I am so sorry, so so sorry..."

"_Please_," said Elsa, through gritted teeth. "_Stop apologizing._" She was trying not to glare at Noor, but the pain of her hand was hard to bear.

"What happened?" asked Noor timidly.

"I- I don't know, exactly." She looked down at her hand, gently prodding the skin. It was shiny and pink, and had a searing kind of sting. It reminded her of the time Anna had reached for a cookie right off the baking tray, far too soon. She had accidentally touched the metal, and it resulted in an angry wound on her delicate finger.

"I think I... burned it. My hand." Elsa knit her eyebrows in confusion.

Noor gasped, her eyes widening with something that looked like fear. She stood up quickly, straightening her nightdress and clenching her hands into fists.

"I-" She reminded herself not to apologize. "I have to- I must go. Goodnight, your majesty." Noor was breathing short, shallow breaths now. She bolted away, and dashed up a flight of stairs.

All Elsa could think of was of how similar her own breathing sounded whenever she lost control of her ice powers.


End file.
